From the Ashes
by sixseasonsandamovie
Summary: Half a century after Klaus promised to walk away from her forever, Caroline finds her final ties to Mystic Falls severed. Without loved ones to anchor her to her humanity, will Caroline give in to the darkest parts of her that yearn for the man she can't forget? Rated M for smut. Currently designed as a two shot.
1. Chapter 1

A late fall drizzle fell on the forested grounds of the Mystic Falls cemetery as a woman in a red pea coat wove her way through the tombstones. She clutched a yellow rose in one hand and a bottle of tequila in the other. A faint smile touched her lips as she ran her fingers over several of the names engraved in stone.

_Gilbert, Lockwood, Bennett, Forbes…. Here he is._

She laid the rose gingerly against the tombstone, then plopped down with a soft thump on the grass. "I'm gonna miss you, Matt," she sighed as she downed her first shot of tequila. The liquor burned in her stomach and she traced the inscription written below his name: _Beloved husband, father, and grandfather._

Another shot of tequila and Caroline found herself thinking of the last moments she and Matt had spent together. They were sitting at his kitchen table, sipping coffee and pouring over old photographs.

"I remember your wedding," Caroline laughed. "There was a lot less gray in your hair back then."

Matt chuckled, deepening the creases that had set in around his eyes and mouth. "And a few less pounds around the waist, too. But, that's what age will do to you."

He smiled as he said it, but Caroline couldn't help but feel a small twinge of hurt. "Do you ever wish it would have been different?" she asked. "That you'd turned out like the rest of us weirdos?"

"Nah," Matt said, scratching the back of his head. He scrolled to a picture of his youngest grandchild, Ella, at her ballet recital. "They were worth every bit of it. Wouldn't trade 'em for the world." He looked at Caroline with a twinkle in his eyes. "You don't have to feel guilty for not wanting the same things, though."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Care. Don't pretend that you haven't been holding yourself back all these years." Caroline attempted to protest, but Matt held up a hand. "You haven't seen a pattern in where you've been for the past 50, 60 years or so? New York, Chicago, Boston, that stint in Orlando. Far enough away to be on your own, but always within reach of home."

"That's not fair," Caroline finally interjected. "There was college, and my journalism career, my time in advertising, grad school, law school…"

"Excuses. All of those were excuses to keep you busy while you watched over us." He closed the laptop and took her smooth hand in his leathery ones. "You did your job, Care. After things in Mystic Falls finally settled down, Jeremy and I both got long, happy lives with the people we loved. You kept us safe, watched us get old. Now you can finally let yourself be free."

Another shot of tequila scorched her insides, causing a light, cloudy feeling to settle over her eyes. "I should have told you then, Matt," she said to the evening air. "I never felt trapped. You were always my anchor, never my cage." Tears bubbled out of her eyes and mingled with the light rain. "You were my tie to everything that was human about me. The life I had planned out, the family I thought I'd have. But you were right. Dammit, you were always right." She laughed through her tears now. "That was the life you needed and the one that I kept trying to make myself want."

She stood, extending her bottle in a sloppy salute. "Here's to you, Matt."

Half a bottle of tequila and a short walk later, Caroline was sitting atop a large cliff, watching the sun set over the trees. The golden twilight bounced off her curls and made the blurred edges of her vision shine with a soft glow.

"When was the last time I really felt alive, huh?" she asked aloud. "I've spent the last half of a century living without…"

"Perhaps the word you're looking for, love, is 'thriving'?" a familiar voice intoned.

Her heart shuddered involuntarily at the sound. "Go away, Klaus. I thought you had a city to lord over, or enemies to terrorize, or something."

He sat down and grabbed the bottle from her hands in response, taking a long drag of tequila.

"And what happened to walking away and never coming back?" Caroline asked angrily as she finally turned to look at him. "You promised! If you're here for an "I told you so" moment, or to rub it in my face that life in Mystic Falls wouldn't be enough, you really picked the wrong time. Matt just died and – "

Klaus set the bottle down and slowly slid his fingers over Caroline's palm, lacing their fingers together. Maybe it was the tequila making her slow to react, but Caroline sat staring at their entwined hands without an attempt to break free. _What the hell is he doing?_

"It's been 67 years since we first met," he said at last. His eyes lingered over the horizon as he brought the bottle to his lips again. Caroline quickly snatched it from him and took another gulp, making Klaus chuckle. "67 years should hardly be an instant in my life, yet it has been the longest, most torturous span of time that I have ever felt." He looked at her at last, his eyes burning in a way that sent heat rushing down her spine. "And to answer your question, yes, I did promise to walk away and never come back. But that was a promise I made to a girl struggling to find her way in the world amidst a sea of chaos and heartbreak." He reached out and stroked her cheek gently. Still, Caroline did not pull away. "The woman who sits before me now is not that girl. While she does have the same magnificent blue eyes, she is stronger. She has endured endless pain and suffering, but has managed to protect the ones she held most dear. She is a phoenix that is rising from the ashes of the girl she used to be."

Klaus blurred before her eyes as Caroline's head swayed momentarily. _Why are you here? What are you saying? How the hell do you know what I've been doing?_ She tried to voice her questions, but the words felt heavy on her tongue and couldn't find their way out. Instead, she let her head tilt forward and sloppily planted a kiss on his lips. Even through her drunken haze, the contact of his lips on hers lit the flames of a deep ache she hadn't felt since…

Klaus returned the kiss, but pulled away quickly. "Come on, love. I've something important to discuss and we need to get you sobered up."

_So he's managed to hold onto his heart for all of these years after all. _Caroline's thoughts trailed off as she felt Klaus' arms scoop her up. She let her head rest against the crook of his neck and allowed the pull of alcohol to drag her into sleep.

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**Hope you enjoyed reading so far! :) Right now I'm planning for this to be the set up for the second part, which will certainly contain some smut. Please let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is part 2 of 2. There is certainly smut as promised. Enjoy!**

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_"Mark my words: Small town boy, small town life – it won't be enough for you."_

"Shut up, Klaus," Caroline grumbled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her tongue felt like it had grown a layer of fur overnight. Her head throbbed as she sat up. Ouch. What the hell did I do to myself? Caroline swung her feet over the side of the bed, headed to her kitchen for a few much needed blood bags. She froze when her feet met smooth, wooded floor instead of the carpet of her own bedroom. Her eyes opened wide.

_No. No, no, no, no. I did not just-_

Klaus' voice carried through from the next room, confirming her suspicions. "No, Bekah, I won't be more than a few days. I'm wrapping up a bit of business on the East Coast, but I'll meet with you in Prague by week's end."

Well, shit. Caroline gasped. Wait, we didn't… She ran a quick inventory over her body: the red coat she was wearing earlier was nowhere to be seen, but the black dress she'd put on underneath was still intact, as were her black lace undergarments. She spotted her black ankle boots across the room near the bedroom door. Forget the coat. I'll just grab the shoes and be gone before he even makes it back in the room. She whooshed across the room, snatched the shoes, and opened the door only to bump directly into Klaus.

"Leaving so soon, love?" Klaus asked with his signature smirk.

"Uh, yeah. Can't stay," she said. Avoiding his eyes, Caroline sped to the bottom of the staircase only to be stopped by Klaus' hand on hers over the knob of the front door. The warmth of his touch brought back flashes of last night: Klaus stroking her cheek, him telling her how strong she was, her drunkenly kissing him. A slight flush touched her cheeks as she finally returned his stare.

"I've come to make a request. Are you sure you want to leave before you hear what it is that I'm offering?" The glint in his eye hinted at the darker suggestion in his words.

_Is he seriously trying to hit on me right now?_ Caroline set her mouth in a firm line and maintained her grip on the door knob. "I'm listening."

Edged on by the challenge in her voice, Klaus delicately traced his thumb over her knuckles and leaned closer. He could hear her breath hitch involuntarily at his proximity. "Perhaps we could discuss this over drinks?"

His knowing smile could only be referring to the kiss she'd given him._ Don't give him the satisfaction of reacting._ She straightened her posture and met his gaze, his face only inches from hers. "You can tell me what you have to say or I can walk out this door right now."

He searched her stare for a few moments, looking for the fiery desire she was trying so desperately to mask. "Come away with me," he said at last. His words were both an offer and a plea, desperate and hungry. "Put this small town life to rest for good. Let yourself be free. Let me show you what you've been missing all these years."

Now that the words were said, they were unavoidable. Here was the same offer he had made to her after the ball, after her graduation. Only this time, it was a real path she could take and not a fantasy. She let the words wash over her, fully considering for the first time what this offer could mean. With Klaus' seemingly unlimited influence and wealth, there was probably nothing they couldn't do. There would be exotic destinations, lavish transportation and clothing, not to mention the incredible music, food and art to discover.

_But wouldn't that kind of life come at an enormous cost?_ Caroline was intensely aware of the strength that lurked under Klaus' grip on her hand, however delicately he was touching her. He hadn't gotten his enormous power through kindness, but through ruthless murder and intimidation. No matter where they went, there would always be reminders of his cruelty in the form of enemies to be controlled or killed.

"Klaus," she sighed, finally breaking eye contact. She had to tell him no. She had to try and explain to him all of the reasons that they weren't right for each other and that what he was asking was absolutely absurd.

As she opened her mouth to voice her rejection, Klaus released a growl of frustration and spun her body so her back was pressed flush against him, both hands trapped against his torso. His breath was hot against her neck. She let out a small moan at the sudden and unexpected feel of his firm body so close to hers.

"Don't be so hasty to turn me away, Caroline," he breathed in her ear. Every word sent chills down her spine and tapped into an ache deep within her that she would have preferred not to acknowledge. "I can feel your heart race every time our skin connects, love. For how much longer are you going to pretend you aren't yearning for this?"

"I, I'm not.." she stammered. The heat from his body was making it really hard to concentrate. Desperately trying to collect herself, she spun out of his grip and pinned him against the door. The look on his face suggested that he very much liked where this was going.

Now it was Caroline's turn to call out in frustration. She took a step back, trying to put some space between her and the physical contact that was clouding her mind. "Are you crazy?" she called out. "We've been on one date, like 60 something years ago. You can't just ask me to run away with you! We don't even know how to be in the same room as each other without wanting to rip each other's heads off. How could we possibly do a normal relationship?"

Klaus chuckled openly at her words, making Caroline's blood boil. "Normal? You think that you've been wandering restlessly around the eastern seaboard all these years in search of normal? Don't be ridiculous, love." He quickly closed the gap between them, his body only inches from hers. His face was solemn now, but his eyes carried the desperate and hungry look they had a moment ago. "You, Caroline Forbes, have not truly wanted 'normal' for a single day of your vampiric life." His words dropped to a whisper now, which was somehow more commanding than his usual voice. "Last night you asked yourself, 'When was the last time I felt alive?'" Caroline's eyes widened slightly. "I think you're well aware of the answer to that question. Now are you going to say it, or am I?"

_It's only a bigger win for him if I'm too chicken to admit it._ "Fine." She met his gaze directly. "The last time I felt truly, vividly alive was when we..." _Don't lose your nerve now._ "... when we had sex in the woods." She could barely speak the words without sweetly aching at the thought of their encounter, but at least it was said. All cards were on the table.

"You could feel that same sense of exiliration every single day, enjoy all the benefits of immortality. All you have to say is 'yes'."

Suddenly she thought about what had brought her to Matt's grave the day before. Yes, she'd come to say goodbye to a friend, but it had also been to say goodbye to everything about Mystic Falls. She was ready for something bigger. Klaus was right. She didn't want normal, she wanted heart pounding, blood boiling, passionate, thrilling freedom. And him. She wanted him. "Yes," she whispered._  
_

With that, Klaus' lips closed over hers in one searing kiss that left her breathless. "First stop on our world tour," he called as he quickly tugged Caroline down the hall. He opened a door to a room she had never seen before. "My bedroom."

This room was distinctly Klaus: covered in many of his sketches and paintings, though not so many as his art studio he had showed her before. Caroline didn't have any more time to take in the room as Klaus threw her down on the bed with a low growl.

Seeing him before her, she finally gave in to the dark desire that had been building in her since she saw him yesterday. No, for much longer than that. This had been building in her since she first consented to him so many years ago. It was an urge that had been building for over half a century: the urge to reclaim him and make him hers.

She brought her lips to his, sucking on his lower lip until a small moan escaped him. He tasted better than she could have possibly remembered. His skin was firm and smooth under her touch and the scent of him alone was enough to cause a damp feeling to spread between her thighs. His hands circled around her waist, one hand slowly moving up her back and tangling in her hair to allow him better access to kiss her neck. He traced her neck with his tongue until she whimpered.

With one hand in her hair and the other trailing over her breasts, Klaus held her gaze with a stare filled with more passion than Caroline had words for. It was the sort of look that could only be given after centuries of longing. "I have dreamed of this moment every day for the past 64 years," Klaus whispered to her. She launched her lips at his, fisting both hands in his hair while her tongue lapped gently at his.

When she pulled away at last, she felt herself radiating the same intensity as the look he gave her. "Me too."

Klaus quickly tugged her dress from her body, and let Caroline remove his clothes. The sight of her porcelain body gleaming under her black lace undergarments was almost too much for him. "You are simply ravishing," he murmured as his lips traced over her hip bone.

Caroline arched her back at the feeling, eager to see where his kisses might lead. Just as she'd hoped, Klaus' lips trailed closer and closer to the agonizing wetness surging from her core. Instead of giving her the pleasure she sought, Klaus traced over her center delicately, only tantalizing her. He looked up at her writhing under his touch. "Please," she begged.

He denied her request, instead tearing the black lace of her underwear to shreds, then lunging at her chest to do the same to her bra. Caroline's heart thudded wildly. In this moment, Klaus was more monster than man and it brought out her own animalistic urges that she could no longer fight.

Caroline flipped Klaus on his back, straddling him and rubbing her breasts against his chest as she snaked her body along his. She traced her tongue along his lips while her hands reached down to the firm length pressing harder and harder against her body. In a moment she had his underwear torn to bits and out of the way to allow her to stroke his pulsing member.

The moan that flew from Klaus' lips was pure animal: a gutteral growl that left Caroline aching for him. In that instant, she sunk her fangs into his neck, tasting the sweetness of his blood as it poured over her lips and tongue. All of Klaus' body flexed at her bite, revealing his obvious pleasure at her assault.

He allowed her to taste him for a few seconds, then threw her off with a strength that was both exilirating and terrifying. He clasped both of her wrists in one of his hands and pinned them above her head. "You'll pay for that, love" he whispered. Klaus quickly made good on his promise, using his free hand to pinch Caroline's bare nipples. She called out again, wishing for him to take her and end the agony. Instead, Klaus used his knee to spread her thighs and dipped his fingers quickly between her legs. Rather than give her any pleasure, he held her stare with a malicious glint in his eyes. Caroline watched as he sucked her juices from his fingers, clearly relishing in the taste. "As divine as ever," he moaned.

Caroline was falling apart beneath him, unable to st her hips from bucking up to meet his length that was still just out of reach. "I need you," she pleaded.

Just when she thought he would torture her like this forever, Klaus pushed himself deep inside her. Giving Caroline no time to adjust to the overwhelming fullness, he began to thrust with a quickly increasing rhythm. Both released cries of ecstasy as the sensation built within them. "I can't hold back," Klaus growled in her ear. Moments later he was carrying both of them over the edge as he pressed Caroline's wrists firmly into the bed and wrapped his tongue violently around hers.

They remained still and entwined for some time before either of them spoke again. "Come on, love," Klaus said at last. "We've got to find you something to wear. My jet will be here any moment." He rose from the bed and turned to her with a twinkle in his eye. "We've got a world to see."

As he exited the room, Caroline called after him. "I _had _perfectly good clothes until you ripped them to shreds!" She smiled to herself as she pulled the sheets around her. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, but one thing was for sure. She had never felt so utterly alive as she did in this moment.

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**A/N: So there you have it! This is the end of what I had originally planned for this story, but it might also be fun to write about a few of their worldly adventures. Please let me know what you think, I really love hearing from the readers. Hope you enjoyed it! :)**


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